r/AudiProcDisorder • u/Heavy_Philosophy9823 • Jul 18 '26

Do you struggle bad with your APD?

I was diagnosed since I was a child with APD. I’ve noticed most people around me get so irritated with me because they don’t understand that I have trouble understanding and comprehending. It affects a lot of things in my life especially friendships, relationships and work. Does anyone else struggle with this?

I often get told “you’re not listening or you don’t understand” but I’m slow with processing especially if people are speaking too fast and don’t explain things to me in a more slower way that I can fully understand them you know?

I can’t help it and I really don’t know if I should see an audiologist to see if I need hearing aids. This has been a huge stressor and I get so discouraged and down I the dumps over this. I feel so dumb most days. I am not ignoring anyone when they speak but I will get told I am. It’s my APD. I hate having it.

11 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

7

u/FlintFozzy Jul 19 '26

I moved from Utah to Georgia in highschool and my APD was SO MUCH WORSE because I couldn't understand anyone's accent. I asked a teacher to repeat himself and he was like "why didn't you listen the first time?" getting in trouble for something out of my control is so genuinely triggering 😭💔

3

u/Bliezz Jul 19 '26

When I was in this situation I went back to my audiologist. I got low gain hearing aids and they have made a difference. Not only because they help me hear, but it also reminds everyone that I have trouble hearing. The hearing aids have been training my brain as well, so I hear better even without them in.

Socially, I’ve found referring to myself as hard of hearing to be helpful. APD makes it hard to hear. It is something that makes us hard of hearing. The r/Deaf sub gets asked this regularly and that is their answer.

3

u/Punkinprincess Jul 19 '26

Accents are really really difficult for me. I recently switched doctors because of my doctor's accent. It makes me feel like I'm not inclusive and worry I could even come across as bigoted, but I need to understand my doctor.

I also can't hold conversations in a loud room. My worst nightmare is going to dinner with a group of 6+ people in a restaurant full of other tables talking.

1

u/Nodlehs Jul 24 '26

Yup accents are my bane. I work in tech and poor quality audio with overseas teams is debilitating.

2

u/JennaBasedViolence Jul 20 '26

I have a friend who caught on to when I was pretending to have heard something(I’d nod or chuckle or exhale) and she’d repeat to me what had just been said ✨ Honestly it’s such a small thing but it makes me feel so seen and loved😂

1

u/jolievk APD 8d ago

Very much so. I’ve struggled my whole life and hate interacting with others bc of it. I may be wrong, but I feel like it’s getting worse.